Curls and Mud
by AmaranthPrincess21
Summary: When a cadet shows up late for chores, Levi knows she's going to be a handful of trouble.


The sound of thundering footsteps and heavy panting broke the silence of the room that Captain Levi and a few of the new recruits were cleaning. A few snickered as they continued on with their jobs. _Great, one I'm going to have to whip into shape,_ Levi thought in irritation as he cleaned the windowsill. _At least I'm going to be able to dole out some cleaning punishments and get some more rooms cleaned. Killing two birds with one stone isn't that bad._  
"There's Little Miss Punctual," Reiner smirked as he mopped. "I wondered how late she was going to be."  
"Cut her some slack, Reiner," Bertolt defended her. "She's always had good reasons for being late."  
"That's complete bull. We all know she just sleeps in all the time," Reiner reminded him. Bertolt sighed and shrugged.  
"She does that a lot, but she works herself too hard. She deserves some rest," he said.  
"Stop defending your girlfriend, Bert," Jean teased him.  
"She's not my girlfriend!" Bertolt all but shouted, his face bright red.  
"Sure. And by the way, she didn't sleep in today. We had training together this morning and I'm sure she didn't go and take a nap in her downtime." Levi eavesdropped on their conversation, his dislike for this less than punctual cadet growing by the second. _Looks like we have a brat that needs discipline._ _What a pain in the ass,_ he thought. _It would have been fine if she had a legitimate excuse to be late and warned me ahead of time. But this is unacceptable._ The footsteps stopped abruptly, and Levi could hear the cadet gasping for breath in the doorway.  
"There she is, our Sleeping Beauty! Finally awake from her nap!" Reiner greeted her teasingly while Bertolt and Jean failed to fight back some laughter.  
"Go fuck yourself, Reiner. Just because I like naps doesn't mean that's why I'm late," she told her friend in a haughty kind of voice. "Captain Levi, I'm so sorry I'm late." Levi sighed in irritation, deciding she wasn't worth looking back at. If she didn't make an effort to communicate properly, why should he?  
"Why are you late, cadet?" he demanded.  
"Squad Leader Zoe asked me to help her with an experiment with Eren and she wouldn't let me go until it was done. It won't happen again, I promise," the girl said, her friends still snickering. _Tch. Fucking brats and their annoying-ass laughter,_ Levi thought, giving them a death glare. They shut up.  
"I don't care if Hange kept you late. I don't care if you have to disobey her orders, but the next time you're late to _anything,_ I will give you a severe punishment. Got i . . ." The words caught in his throat as he turned around and saw the cadet. She was short, not much shorter than he was and her cheeks were cherry red from running. But what really stuck in his mind was the large mass of messy and wild blonde curls on her head. "Cadet, did you fucking comb your hair this morning? You're a mess," he scolded her. She nodded.  
"Yeah, I did. My hair just has a hard time behaving," she explained, giving him a smile. He didn't return it. Her face fell and she coughed. "I really am sorry about being late, sir. It won't happen again."  
"Tch. It better not. You have a week of extra cleaning duty for – What the hell are you covered in?!" He had let his eyes wander from her hair down to her body and saw she was splattered in mud. She grimaced, rubbing the nape of her neck.  
"I fell into the mud, sir," she replied weakly. Levi glared at her. It was one issue after another with her.  
"What's your name, cadet?" he hissed, watching in dissatisfaction as the mud started sliding down her boots and threatened to reach the ground. She saluted him, getting mud on her fist. He flinched slightly, but she stood strong.  
"Cadet Catherine Luell, sir," she said proudly as he scowled at her.  
"Luell, I want you to go take a shower and clean up, and then I want your ass back here," he ordered.  
"But sir, I need to complete my chores!" she protested.  
"You're disgusting. Go make yourself presentable, and that includes doing something to your hair, and then come back here. And be quick about it. Got it?" he demanded. She nodded.  
"Yes, sir!" she said, before quickly turning on her heel. Levi exhaled sharply resuming cleaning the windows. emThat one is going to be trouble,/em he thought./p  
"Is she always like that?" he asked Bertolt.  
"Yeah," he grimaced. And it was then Levi knew this was going to be a long day.


End file.
